Thermodynamics of emergent magnetic charge screening in artificial spin ice

Alan Farhan (), Andreas Scholl (), Charlotte F. Petersen, Luca Anghinolfi, Clemens Wuth, Scott Dhuey, Rajesh V. Chopdekar, Paula Mellado, Mikko J. Alava and Sebastiaan van Dijken ()
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Alan Farhan: Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
Andreas Scholl: Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
Charlotte F. Petersen: COMP Centre of Excellence, Aalto University
Luca Anghinolfi: Università di Genova
Clemens Wuth: Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
Scott Dhuey: Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)
Rajesh V. Chopdekar: University of California
Paula Mellado: School of Engineering and Sciences, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Diagonal Las Torres
Mikko J. Alava: COMP Centre of Excellence, Aalto University
Sebastiaan van Dijken: NanoSpin, Aalto University School of Science

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Electric charge screening is a fundamental principle governing the behaviour in a variety of systems in nature. Through reconfiguration of the local environment, the Coulomb attraction between electric charges is decreased, leading, for example, to the creation of polaron states in solids or hydration shells around proteins in water. Here, we directly visualize the real-time creation and decay of screened magnetic charge configurations in a two-dimensional artificial spin ice system, the dipolar dice lattice. By comparing the temperature dependent occurrence of screened and unscreened emergent magnetic charge defects, we determine that screened magnetic charges are indeed a result of local energy reduction and appear as a transient minimum energy state before the system relaxes towards the predicted ground state. These results highlight the important role of emergent magnetic charges in artificial spin ice, giving rise to screened charge excitations and the emergence of exotic low-temperature configurations.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12635

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